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Today, an awesome lady, who has welcomed a few of us NYC occupiers to stay at her house during the RNC, drove us from her house to the Romneyville Camp in Tampa. She stopped in the street near the camp (which is not a busy street whatsoever), and after a couple of the others hopped out and grabbed their stuff out of the trunk, a swarm of bike cops pulled up. This just so happened to be right when a march was leaving the camp. They said that she couldn’t stop in the street, and asked her for her ID. Those who were already out of the car hung around to wait for us, but there were still three of us in the car, plus the driver.

The cops did not tell us to move the car, so it sat in the same place that they were supposedly so worried about it being when they decided to confront us. They stood behind the car, checking her ID, writing information down, and talking on the radio. Most of the time they were just standing around doing nothing productive. About 20 minutes later, one of the officers came back to the car. He asked some questions about the car registration, etc. After all of it was cleared up, he then asked the driver if she was a supporter of “the cause”, and was wondering why she was driving protestors around. She said that yes, she was a supporter, and that she was just giving us a ride to Romneyville. He then gave her ID back, told her that he wasn’t going to write a ticket, but that she shouldn’t stop in the road again.

His comments made it obvious that were targeted. This was only done to intimidate us, and possibly to cause us to miss the march that had just started. We had livestreamers and photographers in the car, and all of us were unable to cover the march because of this unnecessary stop by the police. Later in the day, while we were at another march, the driver of the car ran into one of the police officers who was on the scene of the traffic stop. He told her that she should have driven us to Lowry Park (the Tampa zoo) instead.

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I am an independent activist/photojournalist, and I don’t get paid for what I do. If you enjoy getting my updates from the front lines, please consider donating to help out with food, transportation costs, and other necessities. You can donate here. Thank you.

These officers were responding to a short, peaceful, unpermitted march through the streets of Tampa today. They allowed us to finish the march, but once it was time to march back to the Romneyville, tons of riot cops were brought in. There was absolutely no reason for this sort of response.
The last photo in the album is of an arrest earlier in the day. The protestor was arrested simply for wearing a bandana (it’s illegal during the RNC), and multiple cops rammed into me with their bikes while I was taking pictures.

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I am an independent activist/photojournalist, and I don’t get paid for what I do. If you enjoy getting my updates from the front lines, please consider donating to help out with food, transportation costs, and other necessities. You can donate here. Thank you.

I’m getting ready to hop on a bus and head down to Tampa to protest the RNC. If you would like to stay updated on what’s going on down there, I’ll be posting live updates and pictures to my Facebook and Twitter, so feel free to follow me.

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I am an independent activist/photojournalist, and I don’t get paid for what I do. If you enjoy getting my updates from the front lines, please consider donating to help out with food, transportation costs, and other necessities. You can donate here. Thank you.

As many of you know, I’m a poor, struggling activist who has been getting by on very little money because I spend almost all of my time on the front lines of the fight for social and economic justice in America… and it doesn’t pay. I am extremely dedicated, passionate, and am doing everything I can to cover events through live updates, pictures, and other posts. Now that I’m living in NYC, there are a couple of needs I have in order to continue doing this to the best of my ability. All that I ask is that you consider helping me out if you enjoy seeing my updates, and are interested in making it easier for me to keep everybody informed of what is going on.

Since I am out and about for the whole day, and am usually on-the-go for 12-14 hours at a time, I often times without internet. It’s getting hard for me to post pictures, updates, and information as often as I would like. An easy way to fix that problem would be to get a wireless hotspot. That way I can connect to the internet no matter where I am at, even if I’m in the middle of a march or other event and have an important picture to post, etc. A CLEAR Spot Voyager would give me the ability to do that. It will cost $100 for the first month in order to purchase the device and get one month’s worth of internet, and then it will be $50 a month after that.

I also have been doing a lot of night photography since I’ve been here because a lot of actions are later in the evening, and both of the lenses I have for my camera are not very ideal for night photography. Yes, I have been able to get some decent nighttime shots, but it’s currently holding me back from getting certain shots, and getting quality shots other times. A Canon 55mm f/1.8 lens would make it easier for me to get good pictures at night, and it’s also a great all-around lens for a very cheap price (about $105) that also takes quality pictures.

If anybody out there is interested in helping me purchase these items so that I can better provide you with updates about what is happening in NYC, and wherever I’m at, it would be very, very much appreciated. You can donate here. If/when my funds get up to $100, I will first purchase the wireless hotspot because I believe that is the most important item for me to have. After that, if I receive enough money, I will also purchase the camera lens. Any money left over will go towards food, transportation, and other necessities that I have, since I’m just barely scraping by. None of the money will be wasted, and all of it will go towards helping me to help keep you informed. Thank you :)

The Illuminator is a cargo van equipped with video and audio projection, as well as a fully stocked infoshop and mini-library. It is designed to bring the spirit of Occupy Wall Street to streets and neighborhoods throughout the boroughs of New York City and beyond. Just as the occupation of Zucotti Park allowed for a new kind of conversation to take place in NYC and the entire nation, The Illuminator is a “spectacularization machine” that stops people in their tracks and draws them into a space where similar kinds of conversations may take place. We believe that all of our grievances are connected, and that in order to effectively address the crises that we face we need to begin by talking with one another. – http://theilluminator.org/

When I got a message from an organizer with The Illuminator a few days ago, asking me to come out with them sometime because they had seen that I was involved with the Overpass Light Brigade before I left Wisconsin, I couldn’t contain my excitement. We finally went out last night, and I had a great time. Most of the time I was taking pictures for them, but they also let me run the projector for awhile while they drove around. I had to aim the projector at different buildings while we were cruising along the streets of New York City… and it’s not as easy as it sounds. Below are a few pictures I took last night: